7 military helicopters join rescue work as plane crashes in Islamabad, Pakistan

A total of seven military helicopters have been dispatched to join the rescue work as a plane carrying 152 people including six crew members crashed in Margalla Hills Wednesday morning in the capital's northeast suburbs, said military sources.

The tragedy took place at about 10:00 a.m. when an airbus flight of a Pakistani private airliner named Airblue from Turkey to Islamabad via Karachi crashed behind the mountains of Margalla Hills lying to the northeast of the capital.

So far 20 dead bodies have been recovered from the crash site, said sources on the site, adding some of the dead bodies are still on fire.

Two zoo keepers nearby the crash site told Xinhua that they saw the plane taking very low flight brushing the trees on the ground and the pilots were trying desperately to take the nose up but failed.

Shortly after the incident happened, a large number of rescue teams including three military helicopters have been dispatched to the crash site.

All the hospitals in Pakistan's capital Islamabad have declared emergency.

Sources at the crash site informed Xinhua that the chance for the survival of the people aboard is very slim and local residents in the Margalla Hills also joined the military and police in the rescue work.


【1】 【2】